Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Ben Bierly is moved by the thought of lawmakers in Springfield finally rising to do the job he thinks they were elected to do.

“Legislators have a duty to hold the governor accountable when he goes beyond the scope of his duties, as he is currently doing with COVID-19,” Bierly told the Kane County Reporter. “The legislature makes policy and the governor is supposed to enforce it. The legislature then needs to pay close attention to what the governor is doing in order to hold him to his constitutional limits.”

Now running against Democrat John Connor in the 43rd District, Bierly argues the Gov. J.B. Pritzker's latest actions are a clear violation. Citing rising infection rates, Pritzker recently moved to reenact COVID-19 restrictions that include banning indoor bar and restaurant service in a flood of counties across the state.

With so many small business owners still reeling from the governor’s initial shutdown order, Bierly said he almost considers it a dereliction of duty that more lawmakers haven’t taken a stance against the governor over his iron fisted way of doing things. He said democrats now coming together to join Republicans in demanding that the governor hold public hearings to justify his latest restrictions come as a welcome sight.

“Let’s face it, (House Speaker Mike) Madigan is probably telling the governor what to do in the first place,” he said. “The legislature has given guidance through the legislation it passes.”

Even with the clear and present danger he thinks the restrictions pose to the state, Bierly said he still isn’t completely convinced democrats are totally committed to doing the right thing.

"I don’t trust the Democrats to strictly limit what the governor does, or to fight him when he tries to go beyond his authority,” he said. “One need look no further than the intransigence of Madigan in his ignoring the committee that is investigating his actions in the ComEd scandal.”